Approved IAR CE Courses

This course discusses the key aspects of the FINRA Know Your Customer rule. The course contrasts Know Your Customer requirements with variable annuity suitability requirements. Additionally, this course reviews the features of a variable annuity and supervisory responsibilities in regards to variable annuities.

When the SEC takes action, it sends a clear message to the industry. Each enforcement case provides a real-world lesson in what effective compliance looks like and what happens when it falls short. This course walks you through case studies where firms failed to meet expectations, from undisclosed revenue-sharing arrangements to inadequate wrap fee monitoring. You will explore what went wrong, how it violated SEC rules, and what should have been done differently. The course also provides a practical explanation of key SEC rules, including fiduciary duty, Form ADV requirements, and the Marketing Rule, along with tools to help you recognize red flags and avoid common compliance mistakes. By learning from real enforcement outcomes, you will be better prepared to protect clients, support your firm, and strengthen your professional judgment.

In this continuing education session, learners will review 2 Nerd’s Eye View blog articles: When Clients Won't Sell: What Actually Helps Clients Let Go (Of The Endowment Effect), and Working With 'Misengaged Couples': Ways To Engage Both Parties In Planning Conversations. In the first article, Dr. Meghaan Lurtz, a Professor of Practice at Kansas State University and a leading expert on the psychology of financial planning, examines why clients so often resist selling assets that a sound financial plan indicates they should sell. She explains the endowment effect, the well-documented tendency to value something more highly simply because one owns it, and distinguishes its three underlying drivers: loss aversion, ownership identity, and reference-price anchoring, illustrating how these mechanisms surface in common advisory situations, including family homes priced above market, concentrated stock positions entangled with professional identity, and inherited portfolios that carry emotional weight. She also explains why naming a client's bias tends to backfire, and instead presents five research-backed conversational tools, from future-self framing and the new money test to mementos, collaborative anchoring, and the empathy pivot. In the second article, Sydney Squires, Senior Financial Planning Nerd at Kitces.com, explores why one partner in a client couple often appears less interested in the planning relationship and how advicers can respond. Squires argues that the common "disengaged spouse" label can misframe the issue, since apparent withdrawal often reflects role specialization within the household or a mismatch in communication styles. Drawing on the conflict style framework presented by Sarah Asbedos and Emily Purdon in the Journal of Financial Planning, which maps individuals by assertiveness and cooperativeness, she describes how Avoiding, Accommodating, Competing, Collaborating, and Compromising styles can surface in meetings. The article also highlights the long-term risks of building a relationship with only one partner, and offers practical tactics that include setting participation expectations early, using intake assessments, asking open-ended goal questions, inviting quieter partners to speak first, using reflective listening with more assertive partners, and helping collaborative couples revisit past decisions without falling prey to the sunk cost fallacy. Together, the articles help advicers recognize the emotional and relational dynamics that can stall planning decisions, and apply practical conversational tools that move clients, and both partners in a couple, toward more grounded and collaborative choices.

After the release of the Final Regulations, post-death IRA distribution rules have become more complex, creating more opportunities for IRA beneficiaries to inadvertently be subject to a large tax bill. Planning for the use of a trust as an IRA beneficiary creates a whole new set of planning considerations to balance the benefit of control with the additional cost and complexity of trusts. In this webinar, Jeff Levine reviews the impact of the Final Regulations on IRA beneficiaries and then explains the advantages and disadvantages of using a trust as an IRA beneficiary. He further explains the lifecycle of IRA trusts, detailing how they are established, funded, and administered based on whether they are a conduit or discretionary trust. The presentation concludes with the top 5 mistakes to avoid when creating IRA trusts.

Explore the strategic use of trusts to achieve estate planning goals while balancing flexibility, protection, and tax efficiency. This course covers the key differences between revocable and irrevocable trusts, highlighting their unique benefits and trade-offs. Dive into specialized trust structures such as dynasty trusts for multigenerational wealth preservation, QTIP trusts for blended families, and asset protection trusts for shielding assets from creditors. Gain insights into tax-saving strategies with bypass and charitable trusts, and learn how to integrate life insurance into estate planning using ILITs and survivorship life insurance to provide liquidity and optimize second-to-die strategies.

An integral part of an investor's profile is having adequate life insurance, which means this topic will likely be a focus of an investment adviser representative's discussion with clients. A representative must understand that she must be licensed to sell insurance and be knowledgeable about the fundamental terms and characteristics of life insurance contracts. Given the different types of policies and the various riders that can be used to enhance and personalize the contracts, it's important for the IAR to have a good foundation in the products. In addition, the IAR should be able to discuss the clauses, policy and premium provisions, as well as the non-forfeiture options that aredesigned to protect the policyowner. The course will also describe the various ways that beneficiariesmay receive distributions and how those may be taxed.

This course examines the different types of life insurance policies, their basic characteristics, and the different client profiles for whom they're best suited. The course will address the advantages of both term lifeinsurance and permanent life insurance, including whole life, universal life, variable life, and variable universal life insurance. The details on what makes certain insurance products to be classified as asecurity will also be addressed. The subaccount structure will be reviewed as well as how choice of the specific subaccount can influence the cash value and the ultimate death benefit.The course will conclude by examining the tax treatment of life insurance - from the payment of premiums through the distribution of a death benefit - and how a 1035 Exchange can be used by a contract owner to make changes in the type of insurance product chosen.